The God Who Will Break Your Leg, If Necessary. (A Warning and Encouragement Concerning Besetting Sin)

3/26/2012

Did you know that God loves you so much . . . that He will break your leg if necessary? Let's explore this for a few moments now - shall we?

"Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin; and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, "MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM; FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES.""

It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. Hebrews 12:1-11

- There are situations that will overwhelm us - and make us lose heart in our battle against sin.

- We fight these battles two ways - remembering Jesus' conflict AND

- Remembering God's discipline . . . and this is a very strong possibility for us if we are sinning currently in some way. We should ask a simple question if we are involved in a besetting sin. Is God disciplining us though all this - or another way - are we miserable in this sin?

- If that is the case - rejoice! He is working with you to train you to hate sin - and love Him. He is absolutely committed that you will not have ANY lasting joy in sinful choices. Sin provides no real, lasting joy - maybe something momentary - but nothing lasting. The things is when God is dealing with us - our enjoyment in sin will be far, far less. God is disciplining us - spanking us if you will - or as the text says, "He scourges every son He accepts!" (Whoa - scourging - isn't that what they did to Jesus before the cross? YEP!)

- God does this so that as we are TRAINED by it - there will be NO JOY or ENJOYMENT of sin - and a growing disposition to only embrace righteousness. God graciously ruins us for sin - so that the only place we will find joy - is in HIM!

- The passage tells me He does this - He spanks the FOOL out of me - so I will be a sharer in His holiness. Oh, yeah, I remember all "the fool" that needed to be lovingly disciplined out of me - because, unlike all the other really godly people in the world - I have a great deal of "fool" in me (sarcasm alert!). Actually, we all have a tremendous amount of "the fool" in us that often can only be dealt with by having it revealed to us - then exposed in our actions - and eventually crucified by the cross. The "fool" in us will never submit to God - nor can it - the fool in us (also known as flesh) is opposed to God and His Word - it won't and it can't submit to God. Those controlled by the flesh (or the fool in us) cannot please God. Sooooo . . . I cannot please God as long as I subscribe to being a fool and acting the fool by turning to self rather than turning to Him.

- So glad for the last part of this - NO DISCIPLINE IS PLEASANT FOR THE TIME, BUT PAINFUL! - When I read this, I thought, Hallelujah! at least God knows this whole process is kinda painful!

But keep reading . . . BUT FOR THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN TRAINED BY IT - uh oh - there is a training process going on? Yep, there is - to simply spank a child without a training process is just beating a rebellious little toot - but God is working toward something! He is seeking to get the "fool" out of us. He wants us to live by His grace and strength - not by our flesh - or "the fool" in us.

AFTERWARD IT YIELDS THE PEACEABLE FRUIT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS! This is what God is going after in this process. Just a quick question for anyone in besetting sin (as if I do anything quickly!). You at peace right now? (your answer is NO - I know this because I've been where you are!) Obedience yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness - disobedience yields painful discipline - and a general sense of, "this stinks!"

Now here is the kicker. When Christ bought you from the slave market of sin - and made you a son through Jesus Christ . . . God bought you for the purpose of owning you (which He does anyway) - but now as a son. He who began this work in you . . . WILL COMPLETE IT UNTIL THE DAY OF CHRIST JESUS! What does this mean? It means, that God is actively going to ruin you for the world. You belong to God . . . and He is GOING to finish what He has started in you. You can either enjoy this journey - and learn to obey Him - or be miserable for the rest of the process. The fact is He is utterly committed to you - to make you like His Son. He will do this even if He has to make you miserable in the process - even if He has to make your life one that is filled with problems - difficulties - disasters - roadblocks - and even to the point of breaking your bones (remember the lamb that is around the shepherd's neck - yeah - that was the one who would not quit wandering off. The GOOD shepherd would break that lamb's leg - so that it had to be around his neck for weeks. The shepherd did that so that the lamb wouldn't be killed - and so that he learned the shepherd's voice better than any other in the process - which, by the way, was why David prayed in the midst of his sexual sin in Psalm 51, "let the bones which You have broken rejoice.") Yep - God will even break your leg, if that is what it takes to finish the work of His grace begun at salvation.

That is where I will finish today - with the verses directly after the ones I've been quoting.

Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed. Hebrews 12:12-13

Brothers and sisters in Christ, God will break your leg to have all of you! Don't make Him do it. Believe me, He will! He has done some things - or better said - allowed some things to train me over the past 30 years of knowing Him. Learn to be strong in Him - and let Him get "the fool" or '"flesh" out of you! He is only doing this because of how much He loves you. But please know this . . . His love is strong! He WILL pursue you. Getting involved with Him through salvation is the best thing that has ever happened to you! But it is a love that is so strong - that it will take your breath away - and at times . . . even break your leg.

9 Comments

Peter Pettitt

5/10/2022 09:16:25 pm

Yes..........God broke my leg on the 9th Feburary this year.
I am a 65 year man who has been through much in my walk with the Lord Jesus Christ over 42 years since I was saved.
the Three and half weeks I spent in hospital transformed my Life
for the Kingdom of God and the Lord was so loving in the way He
taught me about His love for me and how I am to love others.
For 3 hours from the early hours to sunrise on the last day in
the hospital.
The Holy Spirit Dealt with me by placing me on the Cross with him as the thief and seeing the love in Jesus eyes as he forgave the thief as He told him that " this day you will be with me in Paradise."
While this ordeal was the worst pain I have had to deal with it
was worth it. Bless the Lord !
FYI, My right leg femur was broken.
Thank you for your article.
Peter

Jack

6/18/2022 01:35:08 am

My brother in law broke his right leg, and he never got along with me. Now I am helping him. I feel God is teaching us to love and respect each other.

Mubeena

2/24/2023 10:36:13 pm

ur explanation was thoughtful and straightforward...good job and thank you.
sorry, but the 2 above replies are just everyday life occurrences. big deal. broken leg here, twisted ankle there...everything healed in a few minutes. how much change/revelation can 1 have in a moment? seriously?
this june 2023 will be 9yrs from the time that i went to bed tues night and awoke wed morn to find that both feet stopped working. like that scene in MISERY where kathy bates puts a piece of wood between the author's feet and then hobbles him with a sledgehammer? yah, that's how it felt. along with steel spikes being hammered into every inch of both feet and then being twisted and turned and removed...just to start the WHOLE process over again and again and again. relentlessly, without mercy, at the gates of hell, 24/7 for 9yrs. and u know what the mysterious part is? after 13+ drs and specialists and tests and meds and forms and pain clinics and hospitals...not 1 person can tell me how or why. which just proves the point u made in ur theory above.
i can honestly say that because of this Torture im like a Spiritual Ninja.
my discernment is so finely tuned that i can smell wickedness within a 5 mile radius. my Spiritual eyes can detect microexpressions. my Spiritual ears can hear the tone of hypocrisy. i have insight, foresight, hindsight. my walk with Jesus is so intimate that i have Spiritual bursts of Ecstasy, which sometimes lasts for hrs. the same scripture i used to read is now becoming manifest physically within a few hrs to a week. sometimes thru words...verbatim. sometimes thru people, places, things, events, etc. or the other way around, where i will say something and then go read the bible and the very first line/paragraph will be what i just said a few hrs/days ago verbatim. there's more.
Funny thing...i started this comment with every intention of complaining to the max and instead, somewhere along the way i remembered all the good things.
Thank You Jesus for using my brother in Christ for this website and his insight. God Bless.

Sarah

7/13/2023 02:10:38 am

I just had my ankle broken as I was trying to save 60 dollars extra to cremate my dog of 18 years, I kept putting off her appointment and putting off digging the hole, then was 2 days away from her time when I slipped in the mud in the woods down from the grave hole, which by the way was still not deep enough and I had to pay the extra money for her cremation. I am am in my permanent cast now after 2 weeks of a temp cast from ER, and about 2 weeks of a temp cast after surgery. This one will be for 4 weeks, and a total of about 4 months of complete healing with physical therapy included. So definitely didn't save ant money, infant I'm praying for help with the 9000 in deductible. But I am thankful I finally got insurance last year, not enough. But hey, I have found so much amazing help from my close neighbors and a several friends. One in particular that I have done her yard work off and on and had issues with, she has been amazing and the most helpful, making sure I have everything I need, calling everyday to make sure others that were coming for different tasks, actually did. She has been the last one I would have thought would have been the best, but also another neighbor that I had judged a bit harshly as not caring about us other neighbors, has come through in phenomenal ways. Everyone has and is continuing to do different things to keep my life and my home going, I really feel so blessed by God. I am watching and reading more of my Bible teachings and I want to learn why this happened and I pray I make God happy by learning what it is, and All of what he wants me to learn during this time of disability.

Tim

2/2/2024 12:30:59 am

A broken leg taking me off my own path and onto the shoulders of the one who knows the way is saving my life. I’m learning to rest on Him like this lamb and know his voice. Learning to be broken, no pun intended. This broken leg for me came is in the form of an ongoing divorce, yet to be finalized, and I’m praying it won’t be. The future it holds for my two little children I know is in God’s hands and if anything they will have a better father from this. My prayer is they’ll have a better mother as well. We both profess Jesus and need him desperately in this way.

Broken Wife

2/28/2024 03:55:07 pm

I don’t know how to respond. My husband broke my leg on 8/31/22 and almost 2 years later I’m still crippled and in extreme pain. I don’t think God was in that violence - I think Satan was and is in domestic violence. God is in the orthopedic surgeons who pieced my leg back together, in the family’s mercy to donate bone of their deceased loved one to help me with bone grafts necessary to fix my leg, God is in the care of nurses and neighbors who helped care for me and in the physical therapists who are helping me to learn to walk again. I’m certain my violent husband broke my leg because he was guilty of sin and overcome with evil … God may have allowed it but he certainly did not break my leg. This post is very triggering and probably secondary abuse and dangerous to victims of severe domestic violence. More women are murdered by their spouse or partner than my strangers in this country.

Felipe L

8/5/2024 10:28:42 pm

Broken Wife- I'm so sorry to hear about your experience.
If it helps any, the illustration of a shepherd breaking a lamb's leg is not likely based on anything other than a story shared in the 1950s (see link below). It also makes even less sense when scrutinized.

I love that you saw God in the healing hands of your surgeon and those who cared for you. Thank you for sharing that. I pray God continues to heal you in amazing life giving ways so that we may give thanks to Jesus in all things.

https://aprillovefordham.com/portfolio/the-good-shepherd-doesnt-break-the-sheeps-leg/

Jocelyn Brock

6/4/2024 08:53:00 pm

I love jesus Christ. I really do. Just the fact that he can break someones ankle/leg from heaven is absolutely amazing but crazy

Karina

11/28/2024 04:01:09 pm

Thank you for this message. I am 31 and have broken my leg. I have finally found peace in trusting God through this process. It took a broke leg for me to realize I have to turn my life around and seek God will all my heart.. This broken leg process has been so hard and frustrating. I know God is working in my life and is perusing my heart.

Articles